The Etruscan Civilization - Research Paper Example

The Etruscan Civilization Introduction Etruscan civilization was the most significant civilization in Italy before the rise of Rome. The center of the region of the Etruscans, referred to as Etruria to the Latins was northwest of the Tiber River, currently in present Tuscany and part of Umbria. The Greeks called the people Tyrrhenoi and the Latins called them Etrusci or Tusci while they called themselves Rasenn (Infoplease.com, 1). Archaeological survey has populated back the landscapes of ancient times and changed understanding of the settlement and financial system of Roman Italy. It is becoming progressively clearer that the Italian countryside was much diverse and compound than was advocated by the explanations of the primary projects as more surveys are completed. Fundamentally, the historical proof essentially framed understanding of early regal Italy. The Augustan philosophy of tota Italia drove the explanation either openly or absolutely. This presented the era as the successful termination of centuries of Romanization that had led to likeness of settlement, economy, and personality. More lately, however, both archaeologists and ancient historians have started to regard the multiplicity of Roman Italy. Partly, this discernment of diversity mirrors wider shifts in hypothetical approaches, away from splendid narratives, towards a new importance on the exclusive and the particular. It also mirrors the massive growth in the size of the archaeological dataset existing. Approaches to urbanism clearly demonstrate this in that opinions for the comparison of early imperial towns are based greatly on the architecture of public buildings. On the other hand, current studies on the history of social and spatial practice, urbanization and the excavation of non-colossal areas have quickened new perspectives of Roman. From a theoretical point of view, the variety of the peoples of the Italian peninsula and their early and prolonged interaction makes archeological studies very complex. The present rebirth of interest in pre-Roman Italy, with its importance on characteristic peoples, languages, and cultures, may be another deterrent to such complexity. However, there are several smaller-scale studies for Italy, which have focused on the downfall and republican periods, with their rich historical description. The well-known and more abundant archaeological proof for the early imperial era has been comparatively under-exploited, particularly due to the more advanced state of ceramic studies. These studies provide outstanding dating accuracy (Witcher, 89). Barker &Rasmussen argues that the archaeology of the Etruscans has suffered disreputably from a lack of the type of contemporary multi- disciplinary enquiry that has proved very efficient in the study of other multifaceted communities and state systems in ancient times. The 1985 Year of the Etruscans displays showed so evidently that the settlement record is normally poor. A century of deliberated research on influential people burials has produced a significant but biased set of material culture studied mainly in terms of style and history. Correlated studies of tomb architecture, art history and language initiated by the question of Etruscan origins, have long suffered from what repeatedly appears a romantic antiquarianism (27). Three theories try to explain the unclear origin of the Etruscans. Their culture and language differed noticeably from that of other antique peoples of the Italian peninsula at the time, for instance Picenes, Villanovans and Umbrians. Consequently, many scholars long maintained the tradition of Herodotus that the Etruscans moved to Italy from Lydia in the 12th century B.C. to flee a harsh famine. Other scholars have asserted that the Etruscans are an antique people, native to Italy, whose customs are simply different from other Italian peoples. The third theory that asserts that the Etruscans came down from the north through the Alpine passes has lost credit. Genetic studies in the early 21st century have demonstrated similarities between the contemporary Tuscans and their cattle and people and cattle living in the Middle East (Infoplease.com, 4). Puma points out that among the main classical Mediterranean cultures, the Etruscans are the least known. Their origins may be drawn back to about 1ooo B.C., but a familiar Etruscan civilization was not noticeable in Italy until around 750 B.C. afterward, they had most important cities all through west central Italy, and by the fifth century B.C. they had inhabited areas to the north. The peak of their commercial and military power was attained about 5oo B.C. in the majority of Etruscan cities; the long and unreliable decline that followed did not affect the invention or eminence of art, some of which climaxed culturally in the fourth century B.C. or later. By about 100oo B.C., Rome had overpowered or absorbed most of the Etruscan cities. Etruscan religion, art, and language continued to pressure Roman civilization for several years. The Etruscans have not bestowed a compound literary record of their history, religion, and society compared to their opponent contemporaries, the ancient Greeks. Both Roman and Greek writers point out that the Etruscans had a rich and varied literature, particularly in the areas of religion and divination. In addition, many thousands of Etruscan writings do survive, but most, regrettably, are simple epitaphs giving slight information beyond the name and age of the departure (55). The Etruscans have had the bad luck of coming into outlook at the embarrassing borderline between prehistory and history, and this has frequently led to needless confusion in formulating the enquiry, a confusion that has expanded both to process and to vocabulary. Since the Etruscan civilization took shape on the intermediates of prehistory and history, any enquiry into Etruscan origins is bound to take place at the center of a number of related disciplines. The customary approach is that of the historian through standard literature. Another probable approach is through their emaciated remains, either through the measurement of physical traits or, more lately or perhaps with greater promise of practical results, through the willpower of the blood group to which a certain specimen belonged (Perkins, 4). The theory of the Etruscan origin was long and extensively held but all serious scholars now generally discard it. This theory states that the Latins were the offspring of an Indo- European, Latin-speaking people who came to North Italy from across the Alps, by now in the early Bronze Age. This theory was based almost wholly on the supposed similarities between certain features of early Rome and the remains of the so-called "terramara" people, established many centuries before in the area of Modena and Parma. It is evident that even the archaeological foundation of the theory was wrong; the presumed archaeological similarities between the two cultures merely do not stand up to decisive examination. Nevertheless, apart from this fault of fact, the entire code of the argument was wrong (Perkins, 6). Much of the argument has in the past turned, and continues to turn, on the character and affinities of the Etruscan language; and if these could be instituted once beyond question, they would certainly make up a very vital step forward towards the answer of the Etruscan problem. On the one hand, there are those who consider that the Etruscan language is a foreign impostor representing a language previously current in Asia. They also believe that the only other existing memorial is the well-known writing from Lemnos; it owes its presence in Italy to a movement, about which there was still a live custom when Herodotus wrote in the fifth century B.C. Several Italian scholars now challenge this outlook, which still has an extensive following. Their study of Italian place-names guides them to the allegation that until now, from being a foreign impostor, the Etruscan language is quite a native survival from a pre-Indo-European period of Italian prehistory (Perkins, 7). in spite of the anonymity of their origins, it is obvious that a characteristic Etruscan culture developed about the eighth century B.C., developed quickly during the 7th century, attained its peak of authority and wealth during the 6th century and fell during the 5th and 4th century. Etruria had no consolidated government, but rather encompassed a loose amalgamation of city-states. The political dominance of the Etruscans was at its peak in 500 B.C., a time in which they had merged the Umbrian cities and had occupied a huge section of Latium. The Etruscans were a grand marine power during this era and instituted colonies on Sardinia, the Balearic Islands, Corsica, on the coast of Spain and Elba. In the late 6th century, a shared accord between Etruria and Carthage, with whom Etruria had linked against the Greeks limited Etruscan trade, and by the late 5th century, their sea authority had ended (Infoplease.com, 6). Etruria’s affluence was due to its metallurgy. Iron, Copper and tin were exchanged for gold. The Etruscans also initiated the grape vine to Italy. Etruscans often optioned to piracy while trading with the Carthaginians and Greeks. Much of this ended after the Greeks in a marine trade war that engaged the Carthaginians overpowered the Etruscans. In religious and social customs, divination was very significant in the civilization. For instance, their high priests used the livers of sheep to prophesy, even fore sighting the ultimate destruction of their civilization. The growth and freedom of Rome denied the use of the Tiber to the Etruscans as it conducted Etruscan trade and profitable interests in the south of Italy. By the 4th Century, Rome began to overpower the different Etruscan cities and slave revolutions further ended the old civilization (Streich, 1). The local population, who were subjects to the nobility, did much of the manual work in Etruria, though perhaps not slaves of their subjugators. According to their culture, the upper class of Etruscan birth formed a special caste. Women had a strangely high status contrasted to the ancient Greeks and Romans. The familiarity with ironworking and the utilization of iron deposits that were plentiful in Etruria, partly contributed to the wealth and power of the Etruscan. Etruscan art mainly consisted of statues in clay, metal, fine pottery, and fresco tomb paintings. Part of this art originated from Greek and Eastern arts and was enormously important on the art of the Romans. The Etruscans were fond of music, games, and racing hence initiated the chariot into Italy. Seeking to inflict order on nature, they founded strict laws to oversee the relations between people and gods. They tried to extend the lives of the dead by adorning their tombs like houses due to lack of scientific rationalism of the Greeks (Infoplease.com, 2). Streich indicates that the half-million tombs after the civilization are a significant aspect of the Etruscans. Since the afterlife was a continuance of life on earth, the Etruscans erected complex tombs, carved into the volcanic rock that is rampant in the region. Similar to most antique communities, these tombs symbolized the rich class. The tomb inside copied the daily homes of rich Etruscans as they were built as dual or twin cities. Food and drink was put inside and portrayals from life decorated the walls. Intricately imprinted sarcophagi portrayed rich Etruscans and their wives. The happy eternal life aided changes as the civilization started to wan. According to their belief, the next life was torturous and a place full of wicked spirits (3). The Urn of the tomb was also very symbolic. On the cover, a woman dressed in a low-necked, sleeveless tunic fastened by a belt reclining upon two cushions. A covering drops from her head over her shoulders, her right hand clutches the folds of a veil, which is draped over her legs, and on her right foot, which projects vaguely beyond the edge of the cover, is a sandal. There is a torque around her neck and on her right arm there are two coiled bracelets; the one over the elbow is compiled of two analogous rings, the one underneath, a curved bracelet with S-shaped ends, encircles the wrist twice (Eldridge, 258). Etruscan culture is very different from that of the Greek and the Latin. Although it is considered as the third oldest language of in Italy it does not have significant written works. Studies indicate that there existed an Etruscan religious writing and a body of past literature and drama too (Mysteriousetruscans.com, 2). The original Etruscans were an immigrant people, and the Etruscan language was the native tongue of these immigrants just like the Greeks of south Italy or the Phoenicians in the west. They imposed this language on the territory that they conquered. The hypothesis of a people immigrating from the eastern northern or edgings of the Greek world had the advantage of appearing to explain the recognized linguistic and historical facts in simple, readily comprehensible terms, and it emerges to have been normally accepted by antiquity (Perkins, 6) During the colonial Rome, Etruscan language was not often spoken although priests and scholars continually studied it. The language was predominantly used in a religious framework until late ancient times. This caused the development of the Etruscan language to be primarily based on religious terms. On a yearly basis, more than 10,000 recognized Etruscan writings are discovered. Evidence of the Etruscan language is also found in their funeral culture. These short memorial writings are found on funerary urns, in tombs or on objects offered in sanctuaries. Others are on carved bronze Etruscan mirrors, where they brand legendary figures or provide the name of the holder, and on pottery, coins and dice (Mysteriousetruscans.com, 4). The Etruscan language in addition presents complexity to the scholar. One can read it easily since the sound significance of the signs is known and the alphabet is of Greek origin. However, it is not easy to understand the terminology with the exception of merely some words. Even though the language appears to have both Indo-European and non-Indo-European constituents in addition to traces of antique Mediterranean tongues, it is not possible to categorize it into any identified group of languages. Etruscan contains some 10,000 epigraphic records that date from the seventh century B.C. to the first century A.D.; most of these records are concise and repetitious dedications. One of the obscurities of Etruscan civilization is why the inscribed record is so thin and why the Romans wrote nearly nothing concerning the Etruscan language or its writing (Infoplease.com, 3). Etruscan religion was based on the notion that the fate of man was entirely determined by the vagaries of the several idols worshipped by the Etruscans. Celestial will, was expressed in almost every natural occurrence. This included lightning, the configuration of the inner organs of sacrificial animals, or the flight samples of birds. Consequently, the priests could understand all these messages. Consequently, the Etruscans meticulously followed a multifaceted code of rites known by the Romans as the “disciplina etrusca”. The Etruscan generations greatly respected and highly regarded their religion even up to the decline of the Roman Empire. The initiation of Christianity led to the total destruction of all Etruscan writings since the Etruscan religious beliefs and customs were so innate among the Romans. One of the first Christian defenders, Arnobius, living around 300 CE, alleged that Etruria is the inventor and mother of all false notions. Due to this notion, the features of the Etruscan religion were greatly rejected by many societies who had embraced the coming of Christianity. The apparent Eastern Greek impact in Etruscan religion and art from the onset of the civilisation in the 8th Century is either proof of the Etruscan origins in Lydia, or the pressure of succeeding Greek settlement in the affluent region of Etruria (Mysteriousetruscans.com, 6). Numerous archaeological remains of the Etruscans and the written sources concerning the Etruscans in Greek and Latin have a correlation in some ways, with the Etruscan religion. The famous declaration of Livy explaining the Etruscans as a country that is most dedicated to religion, excelling others in their information of religious observances gives evidence that the antiques as well recognized the commonness of religion in Etruscan civilization (Grummond & Erika, 1). The doctrine of the Etruscan Religion was so compound and all embracing that it needed long and painstaking study. Due to this, the Etruscans had unique training institutions. In these institutions they trained the priests and other influential people on the basics of their religious practices. These institutions were beyond priests' seminaries in the contemporary sense. This means that they were not involved in merely training the priests on the practices of their religion, rather they offered a variety of studies hence considered a sort of university with numerous faculties. This is because their program included not only religious rules and theology, but also the encyclopaedic information needed by the priests, which ranged from astronomy and meteorology through zoology, ornithology, and botany to geology and hydraulics. In addition, there was the teaching of hydraulic engineering. There were skilled diviners who knew how to find bottomless water and how to dig water channels, how to bore wells, provide drinking water in the towns, and fix irrigation and drainage systems in the fields. Similar to the antique East, there lacked a separation of theological and material knowledge in Etruria. For instance, everything that man was obliged to perform on earth was to be in accordance with the heavenly. Consequently, when it was essential to find out the will of the gods in agreement with the sacred dogma, all the attempts of the priests were directed upon the heavens. Moreover, several aspects of the Etruscan religion were of vital significance. This included the direction and division of space, foretelling from an animal's liver as in laying the underpinning of a temple, construing a shooting star as in studying land and marking out a garden and field (Mysteriousetruscans.com, 7). It was anticipated that Heaven and earth were sectioned by a great unseen cross consisting of a north-south alignment. All custom and religious observation was particularly detained by this unique separation of earthly and extraterrestrial space. In addition, this separation allowed the priests to decode and comprehend the signs coming from the gods. Moreover, every sacral and worldly responsibility on earth had to be synchronized with it. This is because the Etruscans supposed that positive and unfavorable powers were located in the four sections of the sky and were irreversibly in conformity with the cosmic ranks of the gods that they worshiped. Another unique belief was that the east region was of good signal, since the uppermost deities had chosen to reside there. However, the drear areas of the west, particularly in the quarter between north and west, which was the most unpromising was where the dreadful and cruel gods of the underworld and of doom dwelt. Founded on these religious notions, the Etruscans initiated a system of town planning. These notions were similarly mirrored in the convoluted ritual set down for the basis of a new city. In Etruria, the town, which was deemed a minute segment of the cosmos and pleasantly incorporated with an all-embracing order overseen by the gods positioned, was the one which conformed to the sacred laws (Mysteriousetruscans.com, 13). The Etruscan lifestyle was also very unique and different from that of other ancient people. A substantial insight into the Etruscan lifestyle is drawn from the remnants of superb murals found in the inner walls of Etruscan tombs. For instance, a frequently recurring theme in their lifestyle is the feast (Mysteriousetruscans.com, 12). The feast had a twofold meaning for the Etruscans and was so frequently reproduced in tomb frescoes. The close relatives of the departed participated in the banquet, as part of the funeral ceremonies, and they alleged that the spirit of the departed was also present hence it was considered a religious ceremony. It was also a representation of wealth and it marked an association of a social class in daily life (Larth.it, 1) In the banquet, men and women of elevated societal standing were the guests. They stretched out on couches in bountiful receptions where several servants waited them to serve them at their pleasure. In addition, musicians entertained them, with dancers swinging to the rhythmic. However, Etruscan performers played clamorous rhythms of music that fully entertained the guests. Decoration was also a major theme in the feast. For instance, highly embroidered covers covered the tables, on to which there was positioned the different dinner courses. The dishes comprised of generous collections of fish such as Tuna, and meats for instance from hare, deer and birds. Grapes were initially local to the Arabian Peninsula, but extensively grown by the start of the first millennium BCE. These were highly used in the banquet and considered as the main meal by the Etruscans. The Etruscans most likely pioneered grapes and wine to Italy approximately the 9th Century BCE. This is because before then, wine and grapes was not used in Italy (Mysteriousetruscans.com, 16). The Etruscans often played wind, percussion and string instruments. Predominantly, the flute was played in all its different varieties, even though the double flute was taken as the national Etruscan instrument. Their Music frequently come with the rhythmical movements of dancers, both male and female, whose dancing was both for entertainment and as a ceremony connected to propitiatory rites or funerals. In addition, music was part of staged presentations of more antique origin, with mimic by veiled actors-dancers. Drama with dialogue inspired by Greek theatre became common from the fourth century BC (Larth.it, 2). Most writers suppose that the Etruscans appear to have more of a verbal rather than a written musical custom due to the lack of musical documents. This notion is not well considered since it lacks archeological evidence. For instance, the Liber Lintaeus of Zagreb are considered by some to be component of one of the Etruscan holy books. These books seem to have certain recurring rhythmic phrases, which would signify congregational participation in the liturgies. Additionally, rhythmic patterns signifying poetry or verse are demonstrated in certain tablets found in Etruscan tombs also. Those sources alongside tomb designs showing numbers of musicians playing jointly, and records by Livy of Etruscan theatre lends credibility to the perspective that such highly planned incidents may have had trials perhaps utilizing written scores (Mysteriousetruscans.com, 23). Etruscan music plays an important role in almost all vital aspects of life for instance dinners, religious festivals, funeral rites. Both work and free time activities were accompanied by music. Expert Musicians and dancers as demonstrated by Titus Livius accompanied serious ritual occasions for instance the games of the yearly Fanum Voltumnae. In the time of military drills and sports, music also featured. It provided background atmosphere during the feasts that went on within the walls of the luxurious palaces of the nobility and during hunting and funeral activities. However, this music played in the time of the meal itself, while the food was being cooked and certainly during the long hospitable drinking gatherings spent after meals. The ambiance of the feast was eased by the lovable appealing sound of the flute and lyre during the funeral ritual consequently encouraging participants to dance (Mysteriousetruscans.com, 25). In the agean Bronze Age, Etruscan clothing was very comparable to that of the Greek archaic era. For example, the men in this era wore a type of robe tied at the front. This however changed later as it was replaced by the "tunica" which was worn over the head, typically with a bright cape slung over the shoulders. The most significant aspect of this cape was that it became the national attire of Etruria sine it was frequently wide and greatly embroidered. More importantly, it later became the Roman attire but its name was changed. Women wore an extensive tunic downward to the feet, typically of light creased material that had characteristic adornments on the edges and heavier bright mantle was worn over this. high sandals, ankle boots and one typical type of shoe, with rising curving toes, perhaps of Greek or Oriental source were the most widespread kinds of footwear in the Etruscan culture (Larth.it, 4). The Etruscan fashion was also very unique. For instance, a woolen hat was the mainly ordinary headwear. However, these came in several diverse forms such as caps, pointed hoods, wide edged hats, such as those still worn currently by Tuscan farmers and narrowed type hats. A certain social class was identified to the individual that the hat frequently. The Etruscan also pioneered the ceremonial dress of later Roman times. For instance, the purple robes worn by the emperors were of Etruscan origin. In addition, Etruscan pioneered several symbols regularly credited to Rome such as the Lictor and Fasces (Mysteriousetruscans.com, 30). Different from their contemporaries in Greek civilization, women in the Etruscan world benefited from enormous liberty. The Greek authors extended hateful remarks concerning the ethical customs of Etruscan women because they highly rejected this fact. Etruscan women were at liberty to participate in all public events, at feasts they could sit next to their men on cordial couches, they could dress eccentrically and they were educated. On the other hand, Greek women spent most of their time shut up in their homes and lived in a position of compliance to their husbands. For instance, the women dressed in a great diversity of hairstyles for instance long, shoulder length, looped or interweaved behind the shoulders. This unique fashion of the Etruscan was very different from all the other ancient people and was the most significant in all the early Italian civilizations (Larth.it, 4). The Etruscan Art contains several sculpted and painted works. Studies indicate that although the Etruscan monuments mirrors the stylistic improvements of Modern Greek art, the iconography and compositional representations are an Italian initiation and are not reliant on such external influences. The imagery of the convoy praises the departed who served as a magistrate in hi city; the development of that iconography also mirrors the varying political condition in Italy as Rome rose in power. The significance of the positioning and characteristics of the departed magistrate, and the curiosity in representing his role, are basic to the development of Roman processional imagery. However, the link of Etruscan art to other Italic currents, not considering its foreign equivalents, remains challenging. There was a common Greek course of Etruscan principles of imagery and illustration in their later stages. In addition, this imagery pressured the resultant art of the Romans. The Etruscan funerary art lights up compound ties to a Roman culture that contended with and eventually superseded theirs. Noteworthy formal transformations in Etruscan funerary art accompanied periods of social turmoil and political revolution. Illustrations on urns and tomb paintings in the past era from some southern locations disclose a diversity of official and iconographic associations not only with one another, but also with modern and later Roman prospects. The study of one of these, processional imagery on these memorials, reveals some basic distinctions between Etruscan and Roman advances to memorial art (Holliday, 75). Etruscan houses were built in streets with sewer lines placed under the roads. Early Rome was laid out in a parallel style as initiated by the Etruscans. The native population begrudgingly reconstructed the city following the attack of Rome by the Celts in the days of the early republic. However, this led to a more chaotic street pattern with housing constructed above sewage lines in many cases, which caused disease plagues. the Etruscans reticulated water by way of subversive water pipes and pressure boxes- an expertise, which was not extended to the Romans even if the Romans are esteemed for their superb conduits. A structure of under floor warming was used, which persisted with the Romans in later years. The pillars that the Etruscans used to hold up Temples and other public works conformed to set ratios and computer models show. These were an enhancement on the Greek Corinthian, Doric and Ionian orders in Engineering. In Mesopotamia, Arches unidentified in Classical Greece, were initially used, furthermore the Etruscans introduced them to Italy. The Romans used them to good outcomes in later years (Mysteriousetruscans.com, 33). Another significant aspect of the Etruscan architecture was their villa. It was the forerunner to the later Roman Villa. The structures were constructed with blocks of stone as a base and were single storey. The walls were built with borders of wood and clay plastering. Although parched roofs were constructed, the characteristic shape of the roof was eaved. Arithmetical patterns or casted terracotta marbled the outside and inside walls of the houses. Painted sights decorated the inside. In addition, the Etruscans had painted images in border like segments giving a general outcome of pictures hanging on a wall just as in Roman times (Mysteriousetruscans.com, 34). The Etruscans assumed features of Greek civilization; myths, the convention of Greek athletic nudity, the alphabet, the human figure in art, colossal temples and statue, and the institution of the convention with all its apparatus such as craters, cups, vases and decanters. Actually, from the crypts of Etruria and southern Italy come seventy five to eighty percent of the Greek urns in museums and personal collections, including some of the premium and major in the world. However, the Etruscans by no means gave up their religion, their language, or their traditions and their portrayals of Greek mythology were habitually used to articulate their own thoughts, sometimes amusingly (Jrank.org, 12). The cultural and political influence of the Etruscans on the Romans was intense. According to Roman custom, an Etruscan dynasty ruled at Rome from 616 B.C. to 509 B.C. Much Etruscan impact on Romans was on art, music, dress, military symbols, and organizations to this era. Successive warfare with the Celts to the north and with Rome to the south in the fourth century B.C. led to the cutback of Etruscan cities and construction of great defense walls. Only the Romans invasion of the Etruscan cities in the late third century B.C. quickened the collapse of Etruscan culture. Although some creative and linguistic forms endured, most of the Etruscan aristocracy ultimately became Roman citizens, discarding their language and traditions in favor of those of the then extra impressive Greco-Roman culture (Jrank.org, 8). The arch and tomb as well as Roman digits were products of Etruscan planning and technical originality. The first conduits built in Rome were Etruscan. Etruscan pressures were also in religion and such amusements as the Circus and gladiatorial competitions. Romans took over diverse enjoyments from the antique Etruscans (Streich, 5). Conclusion The Etruscan civilization is perhaps one of the most significant civilizations in history. This is because their culture, language and way of life differed apparently from other ancient people. They acquired their wealth partly from their knowledge of metallurgy and mainly from invasion and conquering of roman cities. Their language has very slight relation with other languages that makes it special. There culture was also very complex ranging from the issue of caste system, their regard of afterlife and a multifaceted religion. They influenced the Romans and the Greeks in diverse ways including music, fashion, art and religion. Works Cited Barker, Graeme & Rasmussen, Tom.“The Archaeology of an Etruscan Polis: A Preliminary Report on the Tuscania Project”. Papers of the British School at Rome 56. 1 (1988): 25-42. Print. Eldridg, L. G. “A third Century Etruscan Tomb.” American Journal of Archaeology 22.3 (1918): 251-294). Print. Grummond, Nancy, Thomson. & and Erika Simon. Etruscan Religion. 2007. Web. Holliday, Peter. “Processional Imagery in Late Etruscan Funerary Art.” American Journal of Archaeology 94.1 (1990):73-93. Print. Infoplease.com. Etruscan civilization. 2010. Web. Jrank.org. The Etruscans: Their Art and Civilization. 2010. Web. Larth.it. The Etruscans. 2004. Web. Mysteriousetruscans.com, The Etruscan civilization. 2010. Web. Perkins, John. “The Problem of Etruscan Origins: Some Thoughts on Historical Method.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 64 (1959):1-26. Print. Puma, Richard. “Etruscan Art.”Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 20.1 (1994): 54-61. Print. Streich, Michael. Etruscan Civilization: A Prosperous Society Declines and is Conquered. 2009. Web. Witcher, Robert. “Settlement and Society in Early Imperial Etruria.” The Journal of Roman Studies 96 (2006): 88-123. Print. Read More